Alade (Irunmole Saga)

by Jean-Marc Akerele

  “How can I serve you Great Lord?” the fallen Goddess of Lust said, while kneeling in front of the throne.

  “I have a task for you,” he replied.

  “Command me Lord.” “I have foreseen some disturbing events that if not checked may adversely affect our cause. I need your services; I need you to watch something for me no matter how long it takes. You were once the Goddess of Lust; use your talents to get close to one Orisha, any Orisha it does not matter, so long as through that Orisha you are able to watch Orunmila, The Witness of Fate. He is far sighted, even more so than me and this worries me.”

  “You would have me spy on them?” “Yes and no. It is more than that. You must follow the thread that I have sensed between him and Yemoja to wherever it goes, and watch it for however long it takes.”

  “Why Lord? Surely an angel would be better suited to such a task. After all they are used to watching things quietly. I doubt my attention span would last that long.”

  “Oh, you will do this thing. You will do it because I will strengthen and empower you with my own power. You will do it because in the end your mandate is still to promote lust and what I think they are trying to create will be very susceptible to your power when it matures. When that happens you will bring it to me undamaged, is that understood? It is imperative that I speak to it before it can deliver its package to the Orishas.”

  “Why, my Lord? What is it?”

  “It is a weapon. But it will also be a man of a sort. Not a human but male nonetheless. I don’t think it will know the truth of the world, for it will have only heard one side of things. If you cannot bring it to me, then it must not leave the place where it will be trapped in, and if that is the case you will remain there with it.

  “I understand, my Lord. I will not fail you.” She rose and quickly left, and the Interloper sat back on his throne, allowing space/time to cocoon him again. For that was his true power. Time held no mystery to him, it was an open book to him and in its pages, he had seen the machinations of Yemoja and Orunmila; but his power did not allow him act upon what he saw for that was the balance. He could not stop the weapon being built, but perhaps, if the Quandisa was successful, it would instead become a Destroyer for his cause and not for the Orishas. The Interloper exhaled deeply, thinking about the next phase of his plan which would commence in a few centuries from now. But for all his plans to come to fruition, he must neutralize this weapon. But the Quandisa would do well in its assigned task, extremely well, so he held no doubts as to whether she would succeed. Once she neutralized the weapon she would bring it to him and he hoped that at that point the two of them would have a very long and fruitful conversation concerning the true nature of the universe. He needed it to hear certain truths, for the Interloper knew that despite what he told his servants he was vulnerable, very vulnerable to its power and without its voluntary absence from the field of battle, he would most certainly be destroyed by its strength. Games within games, he thought, but nonetheless we will play this one through, for he knew that once the weapon knew the true nature of the game that the Orishas played it would not be so quick to dance to their tune. The Interloper stood up and looked around his throne room, which was empty except for a dark smudge on one of the walls. He laughed inwardly, shaking his head at the audacity of it and then turned and addressed the very conspicuous smudge on the wall. “If you had truly wanted to hide, I would never have been able to find you despite all the potent forces at my disposal. You wanted to be seen, by me, so I must ask, with all due respect, why? What I do here is of no concern to you God of Chaos, what is it that you want?” The smudge quickly darkened and coalesced into ebony ball of blackness, before tumbling off the wall and splattering all over the floor. The many scattered spatters drew together and slowly metamorphosed into a man shape, and then finally into the familiar form of Esu, the God of Chaos. “I always wanted to do that,” he said cheerfully, “It beats the hell out of materialization any day of the week. So now that I am here let’s get down to business. You have sent the Quandisa to try to influence the weapon, but without my help she will fail, as will anyone you send.”

  “What are you saying Esu? Are you opposing me now, is that why you are here? You will find that despite even your vaunted powers I am not a God to be trifled with. Stay out of this game or I will roll right over you.”

  “Very dramatic Interloper, but we both know that you have survived this long only because I have aided you, so let’s stop posturing, shall we?”

  “And what pray tell do you want?” “I want the Quandisa, when the time comes, to accomplish a task for me, and in return when the weapon is finished, I will see to it that it comes to you of its own free will to hear what sly words you have for it.”

  “Why should I trust you when no one knows your true agenda?”

  “My agenda is the same as yours.”

  “Then please, by all means, do tell me what my agenda is.”

  “To redress the balance once and for all.”

  “And why should you care? You are Chaos.”

  “Yes, I am, so my time on this plane must soon come to end.”

  “What do you mean? Speak plainly.” “Not one of you, not even you Interloper, have ever figured it out yet, have you? Not even after all these eons and not even though the answer is right in front of your faces.”

  “What are you talking about?” He demanded angrily, so Esu drew closer to the Interloper and looked deep into his eyes, power bursting out from him like a broken dam. The younger God tried to shield himself but could not and he was caught in the deluge of energy cascading from Esu, and somehow through his pain he recognized something terrifying; a caress so familiar and so distressing that upon feeling its touch he fell to his knees in fear and even this mighty God was forced to bow his head to the ground. He remained there for several minutes until the power subsided and then looked up humbly at Esu. “How is this possible?” He whispered. “All things are possible,” Esu replied. “Can we talk now or are you still going to be insolent?” The interloper bowed his head and keeping his eyes lowered said “We can talk about anything you want, my lord Oludumare; I welcome you to my humble abode.” Esu/Oludumare looked at him for moment and then sat down in the Interloper’s throne. “It is good,” it said, “that you understand now because we have much work to do and no time to waste. Let us begin.”

  “Yes, of course Father.”

  9 Nighttime had always been the most exhilarating time of the day for me because I felt an undeniable kinship with the various inhabitants of its midnight embrace. The fabric of the night had always seemed to possess a will of its own and the silken sounds of the many choruses of night’s varied singers soothed me, as I put the pieces of my shattered life and the dark despair that was the glue which was holding it together in the semblance of an effective plan that me and my dysfunctional group of supernatural rejects could use to complete the construction of the weapon within me, so that we all could take the first steps down the road to rebirth and redemption. The philosopher Henri Bergson said that existence implies both conscious apprehension and regular connection, but there may be different degrees of either. So where were we right now? Were we apprehensive? And did we feel a regular connection to this world which had for, good or for bad become our home? My idea was to begin to mold this world to our needs and for this to happen effectively, we needed to take stock of just what our environment consisted of. Most of the members of my group were relatively new to this world, except for Lo and Samantha, who had been living here for a long time. Even Lulu had recently relocated from an undisclosed southern location. We knew that humanity felt our presence, the presence of the supernatural, but in their ignorance of our true natures they left us alone and we thrived. I enjoyed feeding upon their bleak energies and their despair, but if I was to truly accelerate my growth, then I must provoke a massive output of darkness the likes of which this world had never seen before, so that I could feed with impunity, and I could cocoon myself in its madn
ess and be transformed. This could not be the simple evil which most people fear; nor could this be the sort of depravity that one becomes numb to with time. No, if this was to work I had to orchestrate a massive release of dark energy on a nightmarish scale, and transmute this energy into baleful construction of madness, death and despair that would rise and touch the heavens with its ripe stench of carrion and corruption. It must be self-sustaining and potent, so that I could gorge and its energies must be representative of all the inhabitants of this dark portal. But I knew that this would be almost impossible to accomplish for there were other forces at work here besides my own. Even now I sensed the machinations of other supernaturals that sensed the shift in power with my arrival, and now that I had allies they wanted to know what my agenda was. They had controlled this world for so long and were not about to relinquish it. But that was okay, because I did not want to rule their world; I only wanted to eat it.

  Sunshine climbed off the ladder where she had been putting the finishing touches of white crepe on the windows of our newly acquired three-bedroom apartment. We had got it for a song and a steal, the song being the one Lulu used to ensnare the landlord, while I stole his vital energies and persuaded him to lease us the apartment without any documentation or for that matter money. Sometimes when I feed I do not drain people completely, instead I replace the energies I have consumed with some of my own which, because of the nature of dark ase, has some very interesting effects. For humans that kind of energy is very addictive so the landlord was now forced to be very attentive to my needs to receive his fix. It was an effective way to manage humans without killing them or eating their souls completely, both of which tended to leave unexplained bodies which, considering we were trying to keep a low profile, we did not need. I watched my hyena as she moved around the apartment checking the curtains, and sighed as my heart beat a little faster seeing the powerful motions of her muscles as she veritably glided from place to place. Sensing that I was watching her, she turned to me and smiled shyly before continuing her inspection. My relationship with the Kpelekpe had blossomed over the past few months and more and more I found myself wondering about our future. What would happen to us after we escaped this place? Would everyone go their separate ways, while Sunshine and I raised a litter of God knows what kind of kids we would make? I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes thinking about it, and when Lo came and sat down next to me, I opened them and smiled at him. “Whatsup my friend?” he said. “Are you thinking about litters of spotted and furry babies?” I looked at him curiously, saying, “As a matter of fact I was. Can you read my mind too?”

  “No, but by the way you were watching her it was easy to deduce. But don’t you worry; we are supernatural creatures, so you can be sure something interesting will definitely be born from your union.” “Interesting, eh? It sounds positively exciting. Will they have two heads and four legs as well?”

  “Who knows and who cares? So long as they are yours what does it matter to you?” “Yeah, you are probably right. What’s up with you? We haven’t talked in a while; you said there were things you needed to teach me and I have been waiting patiently for you to begin my lessons.”

  “Yes, and that is why I am here. Listen, you are going about building your dark engine the wrong way, because even if you were to build it you will never be able to consume that much energy unless you learn how. Otherwise you risk imploding or worse setting off the weapon growing inside you prematurely.”

  “You can show me how to do this?”

  “Isn’t that why I am here?”

  “I thought it was because you loved my clever conversation. Are you telling me it’s not?”

  “It is definitely not. Sorry my friend, but it’s just not that clever. Sunshine’s conversation is, however very clever.”

  “Careful, Lo, never rub another man’s rhubarb.”

  “I am just joking, my man, you know this.” “When are you going to teach me this technique?”

  “We can begin now if you want, but we need to go elsewhere. I just wanted to give you the head’s up so you can tell Sunshine you are leaving.”

  “Okay. Where to though? Do I need to ask Samantha to transport us there? It can do that even though it is at its apartment. I can ask it if you’d like.”

  “No, let it rest. We will all need our strength soon. I have sufficient power to take us where we need to go.” I looked at him and raised one eyebrow, because I now remembered just why I had pursued him. This creature had a power in him to rival my own, and he had been living with his for much, much longer. That he knew more about manipulating this sort of energy than I did was of no surprise to me, but his revelation that he could also manipulate the fabric of creation in the same way as Samantha did, was exciting, because if my suspicions proved correct, it meant that I too would be able to master this skill. But first I needed more power and to get that I had to learn how to not only devour large amounts of dark energy but how to safely store it within me without destroying myself in the process. I stood up stretched, and then walked over to Sunshine where she was measuring a table. “Listen gorgeous,” I said to her, “I am leaving with Lo to start my training. I shouldn’t be that long, but if I think I will be away for too long I will signal you. See you later.”

  “Whoa, hold on, I am coming with you.”

  “Sunshine, you can’t. I am sorry.”

  “Why not? Where is he taking you?”

  “To somewhere very strange, no doubt.”

  “Aw, I like strange too. Why can’t I come with you?” “We are leaving so that he can teach me how to absorb more power and how to control my own. There will be all sorts of eldritch energies flying about. I couldn’t keep you safe.”

  “Hmm, you are always such the gentleman. And who says chivalry is dead? Fine, do you know when are you coming back?” “I really don’t know, my dear. I think that where we are going time moves in strange ways so that is a difficult question. But I promise I will let you know what is happening okay?”

  “I guess I have no choice. By the way, make sure you bring me something back from wherever you go. Bring me something exotic that I can eat, preferably alive and kicking.”

  “Are you sure you are a were-hyena and not a valley girl? I doubt there are shopping malls where I am going, but I will do my best, okay?” “Okay my love, goodbye.” She kissed me soundly and turned back to her measurements, while I ogled her round backside for a few moments before she said to me without turning, “Lucius stop staring at my ass and get going!” I laughed and turned away from her only to find Lo and Shawn sitting back laughing at me, having watched the whole scene unfold. “Come on Lo,” I said annoyed, “Let’s go. Shawn please hold down the fort while we are gone, we’ll be back soon. And see what is taking Lulu so long. I need her to establish contact with the Leopard Society, why is she taking so long in finding them?” He looked at me and shrugged saying, “The last time I spoke with her she said that they were being canny. They want to see how we act toward other supernaturals before meeting us. But she did also say, I quote, ‘Tell that black tar baby to get off my back, I know what the fuck I am doing. I will find them when I find them.’ I guess you had best give her some space.”

  “I guess so. How about you Shawn, are you in good shape?”

  “Yeah, I am good; Lo set me up with more than enough product to keep me strong.”

  “Alright then, we’ll see you soon.” I turned to Lo who had been quietly meditating, and walked over to him. He opened his eyes, looked down at me and then quickly bent his giant head down over mine, taking a deep breath and whispered an arcane word; and just like that, we were somewhere else.

  “Breathe.” Crack! “Breathe.” Crack! “Breathe.” Crack! “Breathe.” Crack! “Breathe.” Crack! This was the pattern Lo had established in teaching me his painful meditative techniques. With each inhalation, I took he would strike my bare chest with a heavy iron bar, while as I exhaled he would strike my back as he penetrated my mind with his own an
d used it to unravel more of the dark energy that was tangled up and essentially useless within my mind, while keeping us floating deep within this tiny pocket dimension, which was so grey that no color could exist here. I had learned many useful things so far, in the time we had been here; I now knew that one must fully embrace pain, and one must not seek to master it but instead to welcome it like one welcomes a skillful lover to the comforts of one’s bed. I had for all my life sought to avoid the pain which had defined me, but floating here in the maelstrom Lo taught me the true mystery of pain; that birth is pain, life is pain and beauty is pain. The first step in unraveling my powers was to awaken my inherent understanding of this by the ritual flaying of my senses. He would beat me mercilessly until I had realized this and all the while making me control my breath and my understanding no matter how long it took. In this pocket dimension time was relative so I had no idea how long this lesson took. But being as obstinate as I am it probably took millennia, but even if it did, we were both supernaturals and time did not affect us as it did humans. Besides, we could return to the Earth at the exact same time when we had left it if we chose, because such was the control that Lo had over his power in manipulating reality, a power which I desired for myself and that was part of the reason why I was here getting beaten like a slave. I needed to have such control too; I needed to be able to focus and harness my skills so that I could one day unleash my potential. I would let Lo beat me black and blue until I understood, and listen attentively as he taught me each lesson. When I had sufficiently healed from my lessons in pain, and was eagerly awaiting what I thought was the next lesson, Lo suddenly attacked me in the most vicious attack that I have to this day ever experienced, which left me badly wounded, bleeding out of every orifice, and with my bones shattered and bent at every angle. While he broke my body, he had invaded my mind, and it was there that the next lesson took place, for had I truly learned the lesson before and had embraced my pain, then he should not have been able to invade my mind so easily. After all, though I was not as strong in raw power as him, I was still Omo Orisa, and in possession of a full complement of dark ase at my disposal, and I had had the benefits of special mental training from my father Inioluwa, the high priest of Yemoja. I resisted him fiercely, and as he tried to steal my power from me I found that there was a deep wellspring of energy outside of my ase from which I could draw power from, and in my pain and possession I reached for it and cast him out of me. Snatching at the tendrils of this energy which was now writhing around me, I finally understood the first lesson and fully embraced the pain, and when I finally opened my eyes, my body was completely healed and I was ready to fight. I readied myself to launch an attack, but Lo quickly held up his hand and said, “Stop Lucius, it is enough, you have finally understood. It is high time we moved on to something else.” I looked at him askance and said “Why? What’s the hurry? I thought you said that time does not exist here in the same way as it does on Earth?”